"They didn't waste any time when she didn't turn up at home. Not communicating with her family was out of character entirely.

"They went to the guards at 8.30pm. This was just not like her." Ms Murphy said the young teenager loved dogs and had a tight-knit group of friends.

"Ana was tall for her age, but she was a big kid," she said.

"She loved dogs, she'd have you pestered about what type of dog was this or that."

It is understood that Anna was also involved in the performing arts, practising at a dance academy in Leixlip, which cancelled its classes last night.

At 6pm, State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy arrived at the scene to conduct a preliminary examination of Ana's body.

Privacy

A post-mortem examination is expected to take place this morning.

Speaking near the scene where Ana was last seen alive, Supt John Gordon said detectives were following a number of lines of inquiry.

"We have a full investigation, we have the Technical Bureau, an incident room has been established and we are also receiving assistance from the NBCI and other external garda agencies as well," he said.

"As you can imagine at this time her family are receiving a lot of support from An Garda Siochana but they are extremely distressed and they are also looking for the public's assistance and privacy at his time as well.

"They have another child in that house as well, so of course they have to be very careful around that."